Shortly after Lachey admitted in an interview that he still loves his reality-costar wife and hinted at putting the blame for some of their problems on her father, Simpson was spotted wearing her wedding ring on a necklace.

Simpson wore her wedding ring on a gold chain around her neck, according to the new issue of In Touch Weekly, which also reports that Lachey has broken off his recent romance with MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo.

Lachey, for his part, seems to still carry a torch for his estranged wife.

“The Simpson family are a tight-knit group,” Lachey told Rolling Stone magazine in an issue that hits stands later this week. “I knew going in they would be there. I’m not sure I knew how extensive it was going to be. I don’t pretend to understand Joe [Simpson, Jessica’s father]. And I can’t speculate about what he did or why he did it or for what purpose. It would be easy for me to blame my divorce on him. That would be convenient. But at the end of the day, Jessica is a grown woman, and she made her own decision.”

Lachey, saying he had no evidence that his wife cheated on him as has been rumored, added, “Even if she cheated five times over, I still love her.”

‘Desperate’ for presents?Now that Marcia Cross is going to be a real-life wife, looks like she’s found a way to make life less desperate: drinking wine from glasses that retail for $155 each.

The “Desperate Housewives” star is set to marry Tom Mahoney this summer, and a couple by that name is registered for gifts from exclusive Beverly Hills store Gearys. In addition to 12 of the pricey wine goblets, the list includes items a set of Richard Ginori dinnerware, with plates going for $62 each, matching cereal bowls at $70 and dessert plates for $59. The wedding date listed for the couple is 1/1/1900 — which apparently is the default date given when no wedding day is made public.

Cross’ rep didn’t respond to inquiries as to whether the listing is legit.

Notes from all overThe race is on to find the world’s sexiest vegetarian. PETA is holding its annual election for the most alluring celeb who shuns meat, and Natalie Portman is in the lead, says a source at the animal-rights group. “ ‘V for Vendetta’ star Natalie Portman is proof that V is also for ‘veggie vixen’,” says a rep for the group, who says that the star has a slight edge from voters at PETA.org over such contenders as Nicollette Sheridan, Anne Hathaway, Alyssa Milano, Joaquin Phoenix, top NFL running backRicky Williams, and Prince. . . . Rosie O’Donnell has an unlikely new fan. After watching “All Aboard” — her documentary about gay families on a cruise ship — shock jock Howard Stern said that he’s “digging her more and more.” . . . Michael Douglas is admitting that his age is keeping him from certain roles. “In ‘The Sentinel,’ I started to deal with hamstring pulls and all of that, so I am looking for more professorial roles,” the 61-year-old “Wall Street” star told London’s Evening Standard. “Particularly when you have a younger bride, you’ve got to be careful that you recognize the realities of how old you are and that you are not pretending to be anything other than that.” His wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, is 36. When asked what he thought of “Basic Instinct 2,” the much-ridiculed sequel to the 1992 film he made with Sharon Stone, Douglas smiled and replied, “I haven’t seen it, so I’m off the hook.”